


Magic City

by hippie-albatross (hippie_albatross)



Series: Gorillaz Music Video Ideas [1]
Category: Gorillaz
Genre: Album: The Now Now (Gorillaz), D-Day, Gen, Gorillaz D-Day, Gorillaz Magic City
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-19 02:57:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22004122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hippie_albatross/pseuds/hippie-albatross
Summary: This work is a music video idea for the song "Magic City" by Gorillaz. It started off as a headcanon that the song was about the time Stuart Pot spent in a coma between the first and second D-Days.
Series: Gorillaz Music Video Ideas [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1583914
Kudos: 4





	Magic City

Stuart is finishing up explaining the ins-and-outs of a particular keyboard to a customer when he hears the screeching brakes. He looks up just in time to see a car rushing toward him, and only has enough time to step back and raise his arms as it jumps the curb into the air and crashes through the display window. He mouths the word “shit” and the front bumper hits his face.

Cut to black.

Title screen as “Magic City” by Gorillaz begins to play.

The colors of the next sequence resemble album colors from The Now Now, perhaps they’re more pastel here. Stuart is experiencing the end-of-life dopamine rush in a hazy, delightful, yet somewhat trippy sequence. His memories, dreams, places he’d grown up in and places he’d wished to go are all mashed up together in one spectacular magic city.

We pan down from the title in the teal, pink and purple sky to get a first person perspective of the city below. At first it looks like London, but then we see landmarks and buildings from other places. Places that Stuart has dreamed of visiting.

Change perspective to see Stuart floating in the sky looking at his magic city.

_I’m on the high ridge looking down._

Stuart sees into a house, his childhood home, and sees himself grow up in seconds and watches as his parents also age in seconds.

_While we’re evolving, I get old._

He has a moment of lucidity, the memory of his parents almost snaps him out of it. Throughout the video, we see aspects of Stuart’s reality slip in. At first it’s just the real shirt he’s wearing, or pants. Maybe it’s an all-too-vivid scene of his mother crying over his bed, but then he realizes it’s the time he fell out of the tree, not now, and the memory returns to happy, or bittersweet. He feels the love and support from his whole life.

_If I get back then I’ll be grateful._

He gets quickly distracted again,

_Look there’s a billboard on the moon._

We explore more of the wonders of the city, cool places and weird dream-like scenes fill it. Perhaps animals and objects are the denizens, or a duck drives a fire hydrant like a car. Some buildings are keyboards on their sides, rising up to scrape the pink sky. The whole time scenes and locations blur into each other, as dream travel is fluid yet discontinuous. Stuart is now our guide.

_Let me take you this far_

_This crossing isn’t much to me_

_There’s lightning in the storm clouds_

_And I’ll send you there to stay_

The storm clouds. Stuart starts to think about his life. What did he do with it? Was it going the way he wanted it to? He reflects as the dream contributes.

_You got me lost in Magic City_

_You got me questioning it all_

He might remember a commitment he had, out there in the real world.

_I hope that I make it home by Wednesday_

He might hear his mom from inside here, and he may have another moment of lucidity.

_And this Magic City lets me go._

He gets pulled back in with a rush of colors. The trippy quality of the sequence intensifies. We see a kaleidoscope of teals, pinks, purples.

_Magic City_

_Magic City_

_Magic City_

_Magic City_

Stuart’s imagination runs wild with his memories and aspirations. He wasn’t conscious of them in his waking life, but in here, in his subconscious, ironically it all becomes clear to him now.

As the music video progresses, his reality’s physical attributes start to slip in. We only see one attribute at a time. At first it’s his messy hair. In one scene his eye drips a teal or pink liquid that runs thicker than water. He’s missing a tooth in another scene. Perhaps the bones of an arm in another scene aren’t set right. Near the end of the video, we get a glimpse of him in his real outfit.

_You put me up here in the penthouse_

_And painted me in red, white and blue_

_I filled the canyons with my ego_

He gets distracted again. But only briefly. The billboard reads “Magic City” and this brings his focus back.

_Look there’s a billboard on the moon_

_You got me lost in Magic City_

_You got me questioning it all_

_I hope that I make it home by Wednesday_

_And this Magic City lets me go_

As the songs wraps up, a bright white light flares in the distance. His final light. It approaches quickly and Stuart turns around to embrace it. It finally arrives with a speed of about 110mph and the sound of screeching brakes. It engulfs Stuart’s face, his eyes closed as his smile only slightly fades when he realizes the sound. It hits at the final word of the song, “… _go_.”

It cuts to black while we hear the storm’s rain patter arounds us and police sirens approach from far away. First person perspective eyes open to reveal we are laying on the wet road, with the side of our head against the curb. It’s quite dark outside, but it could be midday due to the thickness of the storm clouds. Light from the car’s headlamps filter through the foggy rain and land on us. We feel the eyes of a man looking at us from the drivers seat of the car.

Change shot perspective: we see 2D’s broken hand on the curb as he rolls over to push himself up. His broken body resists but he rises anyway.

Shot perspective from the backseat of the car: the man in the driver’s seat leans forward, hands on the wheel while we see 2D turn to face him in the distance. Thunder starts to build up.

Change perspective to side body shot of 2D taking a pained lurch forward. Chest shot rises to 2D’s face as the thunder that was building up crashes with lightning in the sky behind him. Murdoc smiles.


End file.
